You say: acquiescence is a way out.
I say: acquiescence is an escape.
That’s how we converse, acquiescent
and acquiescently gnaw at
the apples of our lives.
Acquiescently suck
even the seeds
and rescue them
in pots.
With time the fights abate,
it’s predictable.
Acquiescent,
we sweeten our tea
with crystals of love.

Elka Vasileva was born in Vratsa, in Northwestern Bulgaria. She holds a degree in philology from St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, and has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist and as a community organizer and liaison for public literary events. Elka is the author of five poetry books, most recently Anatomy of Memory, published in 2012. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications. She has received various literary awards, including the Hristo Fotev Annual Poetry Award in 2005. She currently lives and writes in Bourgas.

Two sticks spontaneity,
Three dashes imagination,
Two spoonfuls boldness,
Several grains immediacy,
One cup confidence,
Three drops disobedience,
Two cups hope
And love—as much as it can take.

–Elka Vasileva,
translated from Bulgarian by 
Katerina Syokova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger

Elka Vasileva was born in Vratsa, in Northwestern Bulgaria. She holds a degree in philology from St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, and has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist and as a community organizer and liaison for public literary events. Elka is the author of five poetry books, most recently Anatomy of Memory, published in 2012. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications. She has received various literary awards, including the Hristo Fotev Annual Poetry Award in 2005. She currently lives and writes in Bourgas.